January 20, 2021 — Shame, Shame!

Moderns pretend that the only thing to be ashamed of is shame itself. But shame is a crucial warning system.

According to Forbes magazine, the U.S. clothing industry is a 12-billion-dollar-a-year business. Genesis chapter 3, verse 7, tells us when it began. There we read of the moment when Adam and Eve disobeyed God: “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” At the end of chapter 2, we read that “they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were NOT ashamed.” At that point, no part of the human body had been put to any improper use, so there was no shame; shame only comes from a consciousness of sin. But now their eyes had lusted, their hands had plotted against God, their mouths had openly defied their Creator, and they realized in a moment that the exquisite bodies He had made them to use for His glory they had used instead as weapons of war against the Almighty. You’ve noticed that little children, still without consciousness of sin, are unashamed when naked. It’s also true of those whose mental capacity never develops to the point where they have a sense of moral accountability. But those who do have a consciousness of sin and who flaunt their nakedness in public (or enjoy others who do it on the internet) are described in Philippians 3:18-19 as “enemies of the cross of Christ…whose glory is in their shame.” Ironically, in the very next chapter, we read of those who have acknowledged their guilt before God and accepted Christ’s death on the cross for them (vv 20-21). It says, “We also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” Once again, it’s God to the rescue!